What a delight! This was Basie's fine small band of the early '50s. Personnel varied a bit, but I recognize clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, guitarist Freddie Green, and, of course Wardell Gray, who has the fine Prez-influenced tenor solo. In the mid-70s, Helen Humes followed Billie Holiday in the Basie band in the late '30s when Bille left to do her own thing. I got to work with Helen in a Chicago jazz club where I was running the sound system. She was just as delightful then as in this recording — a warm, friendly, unpretentious lady. It's wonderful to see and hear her here when she was much younger.